French locals unveil memorial they funded to first Brit airmen killed in WW1

There were the two muddied British youngsters in number 11 shirts and hundreds of local French people paying their respects to two British heroes they never knew. British, German and French school-children took part in a rugby tournament in Compiegne – where the armistic was signed 100 years ago tomorrow morning. All across France today people paid homage to those who lost their lives in World War One. While world leaders like Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel gathered in Paris for the weekend’s formal ceremonies it was the hundreds of smaller commemorations across the country which meant the most. Trump may have cancelled a trip to a cemetery because it was raining but the poor weather did not put off any of the other planned events to honour the dead. Near Amiens a memorial was unveiled to the first British airmen killed in World War One. Organisers could not find any living relatives so people living nearby turned out in force to pay their respects to the two men. Evelyn Perry, 23, and Herbert Parfitt, 21, died on August 16th 1914 when their plane stalled and crashed. Now locals have paid for a memorial in the village of Salouel near Amiens. In a moving ceremony school-children read “For the Fallen’ by Lawrence Binyon in both English and French at the unveiling. Founder of the World Rugby Memorial Project John Dennison said: “It was a privilege to see all the young players from Germany, England, Wales and… [Read full story]